Friday, February 16, 2018

Angels and Demons

"Sunshine and Shadows"

- in the deep wilderness -

Over the past few nights I have been roused out of a sound
sleep by the sound of a pack of wild coyotes howling in the wilderness near where
we live. When we first moved out here, the eerie sound of wild beats howling under
a midnight moon in the desert made me very nervous and uncomfortable;however, over the past few years I have
learned to take a few breaths, calm down and “make peace” with the sound of
those wild animals.In fact, I have come
to realize that the night creatures are part of what make this desert such an
intriguing place to live.

If the wilderness was only populated by hummingbirds and
butterflies fluttering about in the bright morning sun, the desert would be a “nice”
place to live but not a deeply spiritual place. Instead, out here in the
wilderness the sun shines brightly but coyotes also howl in the middle of the
night, snakes slither under rocks and in the brush and bats fly in the midnight
sky.

Just as shadows and shade provide depth and contrast to a
painting, the nighttime shadows and sounds of the wild beasts offer depth and
contrast to life in the wilderness, that’s why this place is so mystical and so
deeply spiritual.

On the Christian calendar, the season of Lent now begins
with the story of Jesus in the wilderness. According to the gospels, before starting his
public ministry, Jesus went out into the Judean desert (an area that
looks very much like the desert where we live here in Southern California). He spent
40 days and 40 nights alone in the wilderness searching to be enlightened about
his identity, seeking the meaning of his life and the direction of his mission.

As he discerned his deeper truth out in the desert, Jesus
not only listened for the voice of “God” but he also paid attention to what the
shadows and the demons were saying to him. The Gospel of Mark wonderfully
describes “Jesus in the wilderness” in one pithy, profound and extremely iconic sentence:

The spirit pushed Jesus out into
the wilderness, where for forty days

he lived with the wild beasts and
the angels attended him.

As I see it, this is indeed a wonderfully emblematic description of the
very essence of what a spiritual journey is always all about. The path to deeper
truth and greater wisdom always engages our brighter angels and also our darker
demons. The spiritual journey is not so
much a victory march as it is a beautiful struggle

People may imagine that the journey to enlightenment involves
a rejection of the shadowy and darker aspects of our life, I don’t agree. The
journey to greater truth and deeper wisdom always involves embracing the
shadows of our human condition. Priest and
author, Barbara Brown Taylor puts it this way:

To be fully human is to live by sunlight
and moonlight,

with anxiety and delight,

admitting limits and transcending
them,

falling down and rising up.

To want life with only half these
things is to want only half a life,

shutting the other half away

where it will not interfere with one’s
bight fantasies

of the way things ought to be

Richard Rohr, offer some
similar wisdom about the journey to enlightenment:

I suppose there is no more
counterintuitive idea than that of

using and integrating what we
fear, avoid, deny and deem unworthy

as necessary to our growth and
maturity in the spiritual life.

Somehow we believe that religious people or people on any
sort of spiritual path aren’t supposed to be haunted by the demons of our human
condition.Spiritual people aren’t
supposed to have doubts, fears, anxieties, lust or addictions, they aren’t
supposed to be prone to laziness or cheating. Spiritual people are supposed to always walk in the light and avoid the darkness - I don’t believe this is true.

We all have our demons that howl in the night; and so, rather
than pretending these demons don’t exist or continually trying to fight them and
kill them off, we need to live with the
wild beasts who abide in the wilderness with us along with our better
angels. Without giving in to their allure, we even need to listen to what the
demons may actually be teaching us about our lives.

When we embrace our doubts we can explore deeper truth. The times when we are injured or do damage to another can be opportunities that pushus
intoplaces of forgiveness and mercy in
life. Even our lusts, anger, addiction and anxiety can make us vulnerable enough to break
away from the grip of our isolated ego and reach out to others for healing,
wisdom, counsel and guidance.

It’s now morning here we we live and the bright sun has come
up over the eastern mountains, hummingbirds are fluttering about and an early
spring breeze is gently blowing through the palm trees. For me, this whole
experience is so much more beautiful because last night wild beasts howled
under a midnight moon.

About Me

I am a teacher, a writer, and a spiritual guide. I am an ordained Episcopal Priest and hold degrees in theology, philosophy, and communication. I am particularly interested in the common spiritual insights which the many various world religions share with one another.

My wife and I live in the beautiful desert in the Coachella Valley of Southern California.